July Business Bankruptcy Filings Drop 21% Y/Y

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, citing data from Epiq Systems, total bankruptcy filings in the U.S. decreased 12% in July 2014 over July of last year. Bankruptcy filings totaled 77,469 in July 2014, down from the July 2013 total of 87,746. Consumer filings declined 11% to 74,595 from the July 2013 consumer filing total of 84,114.

Total commercial filings in July 2014 decreased to 2,874, representing a 21% decline from the 3,632 business filings recorded in July 2013. Total commercial Chapter 11 filings dipped 34% to 357 filings in July 2014 from the 539 commercial Chapter 11 filings registered in July 2013.

“Consumers and businesses continue to steer away from the financial relief of bankruptcy amid high filing costs and low interest rates,” said ABI executive director Samuel J. Gerdano. “Bankruptcy filings for this year will likely fall below 1 million for the first time since 2007.”

Total filings for July did represent a 5% increase compared to the 73,835 total filings in June 2014. Total noncommercial filings for July also represented a 5% increase from the June 2014 noncommercial filing total of 71,004. July’s commercial filing total represented a 2% increase from the June 2014 commercial filing total of 2,831. July commercial chapter 11 filings, however, experienced a 26% decrease when compared to the 481 filings registered the previous month.